Pirates of Puntland

This month European warships set sail through the Suez Canal to the Somali coast to deal with Africa’s pirates, who have this year attacked almost a hundred ships including, on16 November, a Saudi supertanker carrying up to 2m barrels of oil, worth around $100m. The EU operation is in response to a UN request that they protect commercial traffic and escort convoys transporting food aid.

by Philippe Leymarie

Somali pirates suddenly shifted from pillage to belligerence on 25 September, when they targeted military cargo (30 tanks officially bound for the Kenyan army) aboard the Faina, a Ukrainian cargo ship en route to Mombasa, Kenya . The pirates anchored the ship in Hobyo Port in Puntland, a region (...)